Man charged in slaying of Far South Side teen

A U.S. postal worker and another man followed a 16-year-old boy around a Chicago Housing Authority complex before the second man shot the teen to death, Cook County prosecutors alleged Saturday.

On July 14, Aries Sanders, 24, the postal worker, and the other man arrived at the Trumbull Park Homes in the South Shore neighborhood by car, prosecutors said, citing video footage from the scene. Sanders was carrying a gun case as he and another individual walked up a set of stairs in the complex, according to prosecutors.

The other man, who investigators believe was the shooter, is in custody but has not yet been charged, Chicago police said. Sanders, of the 6400 block of South Stony Island Avenue, was charged with murder and held in lieu of a $1 million bond.

The video showed Sanders and the other man following Joseph Brewer, of the 10600 block of South Oglesby Avenue, prosecutors said.

The male with Sanders then shot Brewer several times, eventually killing him, prosecutors alleged.

The man with Sanders was observed on video firing at Brewer several times. The victim fell, after suffering 8 gunshot wounds, prosecutors alleged.

Sanders and the other man, who was seen on video carrying an uncovered pistol in his hand, fled, according to prosecutors.

According to police records, Sanders works at the United States Post Office at 1300 Northwest Hwy. in Palatine. He was arrested Friday there.

A neighbor of Brewer’s said he had a 5-month-old daughter.

“He was a very family-oriented person,” said Megan “Meme” Weekley, adding that she saw Brewer pushing his daughter in a stroller the morning before the shooting. “He really wasn't a bad kid.”